Paintball marker

ABSTRACT

A paintball marker has a pressurized gas source; a trigger that opens a trigger pilot valve assembly in communication with the pressurized gas source; a fill valve assembly in communication with the trigger pilot valve and the pressurized gas source; and a firing chamber in communication with the fill valve assembly comprising a bolt that releases pressurized gas to fire a paintball when a pressure in the firing chamber reaches a critical firing pressure.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/741,501 filed Dec. 1, 2005, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a paintball marker or marker used in the sport of paintball.

BACKGROUND

Paintball is a sporting game having two teams usually trying to capture one another's flag. The players carry compressed gas markers, referred to herein as either “compressed gas markers” or “paintball markers,” that shoot generally spherical paint-filled gelatin sphere projectiles commonly referred to as paintballs. During play, players advance towards the opposing team's base with the objective of capturing the opposing team's flag, without being hit by a paintball fired from an opposing player's marker. When the paintball hits a player, a “splat” of paint is left on the player and the player is usually eliminated.

Compressed gas markers (launching mechanisms) using compressed gas or air for firing projectiles are well-known. Paintball markers have two basic mechanisms that work in conjunction to fire a paintball from the marker. One of these mechanisms loads a paintball into the breech of a paintball marker, and usually involves a bolt that reciprocates from a loading position that accepts a paintball into the breech, to a firing position. A valving system releases compressed gas from a source of compressed gas to fire the paintball from the marker.

Paintball marker action falls into two categories: the “open bolt” action and the “closed bolt” action.

In the open bolt action, a marker body has one or two chambers (upper and lower). The upper chamber houses the bolt. The lower chamber houses a hammer and a valve, such as a pin type or poppet valve, also referred to as an exhaust or firing valve. The bolt moves during firing and returns to the loading (open) position after firing, in most cases by “blow back” gas pressure, thus the term “open bolt.” A spring biases the bolt and/or hammer forward. The bolt and hammer are sometimes connected by a mechanical linkage that moves them in concert. When the bolt is cocked in the loading position, the hammer is held in place such as by a sear. Releasing the sear by actuation (pulling) of the trigger allows the hammer and bolt to move forward by spring force. A further valve controls the opening and closing of a flow passage between a high pressure chamber (not required for all open bolts) and the upper chamber and bolt. The bolt, in the firing position, is in alignment with the flow passage of the valve. In the firing position, the hammer impacts the valve, releasing high pressure compressed gas through the flow passage and bolt to fire the paintball.

In the closed bolt action, the bolt and hammer are arranged to move independently, thereby allowing for less “bounce” or “kick” when the marker is fired, since the bolt is not moving when the valve releases compressed gas. The “closed bolt” action is referred to as such because the bolt remains in the firing position, and paintballs are already chamber, before a mechanism such as a hammer opening the valve. In a closed bolt action paintball marker, a projectile is already chambered, and when the trigger is pulled, the hammer releases to strike the valve and send gas through the bolt, firing a paintball.

A cross sectional side view of an illustrative prior art closed bolt mechanically cocking, or “automatically cocking,” compressed gas marker 200 is shown in FIG. 1. The closed bolt compressed gas marker 200 has a marker body 202 having an upper chamber or breech 204 and a lower chamber 206. The lower chamber 206 houses firing components, including a cocking rod 208 which projects rearwardly from the marker body, and has a hammer 210 at its forward end. The hammer 210 is biased forward by a cocking spring 212 in the rear of the lower chamber 206.

A firing valve 214 in the lower chamber 206 has a stem 216 facing the hammer 210, and a valve seat 218 on the opposite side of the firing valve 214. The firing valve 214 is normally a spring-biased poppet valve, as is known in the art. A high pressure chamber 240 receives compressed gas under pressure from a compressed gas source (not shown) adjacent the seat 218. Generally, in the sport of paintball, the source of high pressure compressed gas is a compressed gas tank.

The upper chamber 204 houses a bolt 220 having an aperture 222 therethrough. The bolt 220 is attached to a back block 224. Projectiles 226, such as paintballs, are received in the upper chamber 204 via an infeed opening 227.

A ram 228 is provided as a means for reciprocating the back block 224. The ram 228 performs as a pneumatically operated piston, and is connected to the back block 224 via a linking rod (not shown but known in the art). A valve 232, generally of the “three-way” variety, positioned at a forward portion of the marker 200, is used to control the supply compressed gas to move the ram 228. In mechanically operating markers, a trigger 234 housed in a trigger frame 248 is mechanically linked to the valve 232. Actuating (pulling) the trigger 234 mechanically operates the three-way valve 232, allowing compressed gas to move the ram 228 which in turn moves the linking rod and back block 224 rearward, placing the bolt in a loading position.

The cocking rod 208 moves rearward with the back block 224, which catches the rear end of the cocking rod 208 during the back block's rearward movement. By movement of the cocking rod 208, the hammer 210 is placed in a “cocked” position, with sear 236 holding hammer 210 in a cocked position. When the trigger is pulled and the sear 236 is released, it operates the three-way valve 232, which allows compressed gas to contact the rearward portion of the ram 228. The back block 224 moves forward, biasing the bolt 220 to a firing position. Pulling (actuating) the trigger 234 moves the sear 236 away from the hammer 210. The hammer 210 is now released for forward motion and the spring 212 biases the hammer 210 forward to hit the valve stem 216. Upon contact by the hammer 210, the firing valve 214 opens to send compressed gas through the bolt 220, and the projectile 226 is fired. The bolt 220 will remain in the firing position (closed bolt) until the next firing operation is initiated by the trigger. A compressed gas marker 10 of the closed bolt “automatically cocking” closed bolt action type is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,763,822. While a mechanically operated paintball marker of the “automatically cocking” closed bolt type is shown, electronic closed bolt markers are available that operate with electronically operated trigger or valving systems.

While the markers described above may be adequate for the average paintball player, they may not meet the needs of all paintball games. For example, with the growth in paintball's popularity, people with no or little exposure would like to play paintball without investing the money to purchase the necessary equipment. Recreational paintball facilities service these novice paintball players with rental paintball markers (guns) as generally described above. As is the condition of all things “rental” (cars, apartments, boats), these markers get a lot of use, and often abuse, and thus usually have a shorter usable lifespan than the same marker in the hands of a more seasoned owner.

The marker body, barrel, and regulator are all the most damaged parts of the paintball marker. The traditional regulator is of particular note because it is disproportionately expensive compared to the entirety of the marker, and yet it's critical to the marker's function, as its adjustability controlled the speed at which the marker fires the paintballs.

A need has thus developed for a paintball marker that has an increased lifespan under duress, but does not have a substantial loss of function.

SUMMARY

To that end, the inventive paintball marker comprises a pressurized gas source; a trigger that opens a trigger pilot valve assembly in communication with the pressurized gas source; a fill valve assembly in communication with the trigger pilot valve and the pressurized gas source; and a firing chamber in communication with the fill valve assembly comprising a bolt that releases pressurized gas to fire a paintball when a pressure in the firing chamber reaches a critical firing pressure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view of a prior art marker.

FIGS. 2-7 show sequential cross-sectional views through the paintball marker.

FIG. 8 shows another cross-sectional view through the inventive marker.

FIGS. 9-11 show sequential cross-sectional views of the trigger pilot valve of the paintball marker.

FIGS. 12-14 show sequential cross-sectional views of the fill valve of the paintball marker.

The Figures show certain features that would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art, and thus are not described in greater detail. Further, the Figures show the flow of compressed gas through the marker as shading or dashed lines with arrows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

FIGS. 2-8 show a paintball marker 10 having several components common in paintball markers. The marker 10 has a gun body 11 and trigger frame 22, which may be separate but joined pieces, or a single cast piece. The gun body 11 has a breech 16 which chambers paintballs 14 for firing. A projectile infeed tube 18 guides paintballs 14 into the breech 16. The infeed tube 18 may be attached to a projectile hopper or loader (not shown) mounted on top of the marker 10. A barrel 19 of a usable length may be permanently or removably attached to the gun body 11, such as by threaded engagement. This threaded engagement may be preferable for rental situations in which the barrel may be more likely to be damaged.

A trigger frame 22 has a grip portion 24 and a trigger guard 26 that protects the trigger 20, and may also house assemblies, such as a power source such as a battery and electronic control circuitry (not shown to add clarity to the drawing) for operation of components of the marker. As shown, however, the frame 22 houses only the trigger pilot valve assembly 30 and fill valve assembly 50.

A pressurized gas source not shown) engages the marker 10 at opening 12. The compressed gas source supplies compressed gas though the trigger frame 22 to drive the paintball 14 from the barrel 19. As can be seen from the FIGS., the preferred embodiment for this marker 10 uses no traditional regulator to regulate the compressed gas pressure to the marker 10. How the inventive marker eliminates the traditional regulator will now be explained.

The pressurized gas passes from the opening 12 through a passage 13 a to both the trigger pilot valve assembly 30 and the fill valve assembly 50: FIGS. 9-14 show detailed views of each of these assemblies. The trigger pilot valve assembly 30 allows a minimal force in direction A on the trigger 20 to drive valves discussed below that release a relatively high pressure gas (between 400-1200 PSI) from the pressurized gas source to fire a paintball 14.

The trigger pilot valve assembly 30 does this by working in conjunction with the fill valve assembly 50. Before a user pulls the trigger 20, the marker 10 is at rest as shown in FIGS. 2, 9, and 12. At rest, a trigger pilot valve chamber 34 and a fill valve chamber 54 fill with pressurized gas from the pressurized gas source. In both chambers respective poppets 35, 55 seat to block chamber outlets 37, 57. These outlets preferably have a lip 37 a, 57 a surrounding them. The lips 37 a, 57 a discourage dry ice build-up, since pressurized carbon dioxide is the commonly used pressurized gas. The small lips 37 a, 57 a have a width of around 0.10 inches, which greatly minimizes the possibility of dry ice building up thereon.

Returning to the trigger pilot valve/fill valve interaction, when a user pulls the trigger 20, the trigger 20 drives the forwardly biased follower 32 rearward as shown in FIGS. 3-6, 10, and 13. The follower 32's pin 32 a extends through the seal 32 b (preventing compressed gas from venting through vent 82) to drive a poppet pin 35 a that extends through the pilot valve outlet 37. The poppet pin 35 a unseats the pilot valve poppet 35. Once unseated, the air from the pilot valve chamber 34 travels through the pilot valve outlet 37 through passage 13 b to the fill valve assembly 50.

As shown in FIG. 13, once at the fill valve assembly 50, the pressurized gas received from the pilot valve assembly 30 drives the larger surface area end 52 a of piston 52 to the right. As the piston 52 shifts to the right, shoulder 52 c engages with o-ring 52 d, which prevents compressed air (from compressed gas source through passage 56) on the right hand side of the piston 52 from releasing to atmosphere through passage 13 e.

The piston 52's continued rightward movement drives the piston pin 52 b through the fill valve outlet 57 to unseat the fill valve poppet 55. This fill valve poppet 55 preferably seats over the fill valve outlet 57 against the lip 57 a in a manner similar to that in the pilot valve assembly 30. As long as the trigger 20 is pulled, compressed gas continues to flow through the fill valve assembly 50 into the fill valve chamber 54 through fill valve outlet 57, passage 13 c, and into the firing chamber 70, which allows for repetitive firing of paintballs 14 from the marker 10. Before discussing specifically how this gas fires the paintballs 14 what happens to this gas, and how it fires the paintball 14, the gun body 11's components will be described.

The gun body 11 comprises a firing chamber 70 in which a bolt 72 slides between a rearwardly spring 73 biased position (FIGS. 2, 3,4, 7, and 8) and a forward position (FIGS. 5 and 6). Movement of the bolt 72 to the forward position is limited by a shoulder 72 a that engages a stop 11 a.

A spool 74 located within the bolt 72 slides between an adjustable spring 75 biased plunger 90 that moves between its forward position (FIGS. 2, 3, 4) and rear position (FIG. 6). A manual or tool operated screw 76 can be moved within the gun body 11 to adjust the bias of the spring 75 and thus also the bias of the spool 74. This adjustment thus controls the speed at which the paintball fires. (See FIG. 8 that shows the screw further biasing the spring 75 forward.)

Returning to the gas received in the gun body 11 from the fill valve assembly 50, FIGS. 5 and 6 show the progression of the bolt 72 and spool during the last steps of firing the paintball 14. As show in FIG. 5, compressed gas fills the firing chamber 70 and overcomes the bias of bolt spring 73, pushing the bolt forward, preferably when the pressure in the firing chamber reaches about 20 PSI. Movement of the bolt 72 to the forward position allows compressed gas to fill the firing chamber 70 in the area 70 a previously occupied by the bolt spring 73.

As shown in FIG. 6, this additional compressed gas builds and drives the spool 74 to the rear of the marker overcoming the plunger 90's forward bias. When the pressure in the firing chamber 70 moves the spool 74 rearward to the point where the o-ring 74 b passes the opening 72 c in the bolt 72, the high pressure gas in the firing chamber 70 escapes out the hollow passage 77 within the bolt 72, driving the paintball 14 out of the barrel 19.

As shown in FIG. 7, after firing, the spool 74 shifts forward with its o-ring 74 b cutting off further gas flow through the bolt 72. The spool 74 returns to its forwardly-biased position within the bolt 72 and excess gas within the firing chamber 70 preferably vents down passage 13 c and out vent hole 13 e. (FIGS. 7 and 14 show this venting through from the firing chamber 70 and the fill valve assembly 50.)

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 11, upon release of the trigger 20, the follower 32 biases forward closing the flow of compressed gas through the trigger valve pilot assembly 30 to the fill valve assembly 50. The follower 32's forward movement opens a vent passage for compressed gas in the passage 13 b and trigger valve pilot assembly 30; this vent passage allows compressed gas to flow through passages 82 c, 82 b, 82 a, and finally vent through vent 82.

It is critical that the compressed gas be delivered to the firing chamber 70 quickly because if it is not, the user would feel a delay between trigger 20 movement and paintball 14 firing. In practice, approximately 15 SCI of compressed gas are used per shot. Since the firing chamber volume is fixed by its geometry, the pressure at which the marker shoots will remain constant regardless of the propellant temperature.

The advantage of this firing system is that it needs no regulator. The speed of paintballs 14 leaving the marker 10 can be adjusted by simply adjusting screw 76, inwards to decrease the chamber volume and increase the pressure in the firing chamber 74 (and thus the velocity of the paintballs fired) or outwards to reduce the pressure and velocity.

Other advantages of this marker, particularly in the rental setting are as follows. First, Either or both of the trigger frame 22 and the gun body 11 can be cast formed, which eliminates the more intricate and expensive molding processes required in most markers. For increased durability, the trigger frame 22 and gun body 11 can be of a single piece, eliminating fasteners and connectors normally found in the two piece markers. Second, many, if not all of the assemblies, are removable and replaceable. A replaceable barrel was mentioned above, but other assemblies, such as the bolt, spool, trigger pilot, fill valve, adjustment screw, and trigger could be replaced. This would be preferable to purchasing a new marker, particularly in the rental setting, where replacing markers may decrease profits. Third, the market can be designed without outside plumbing.

Certain dimensions are shown on the drawings that are presently preferred, it being understood that other dimensions may be more effective. 

1. A paintball marker comprising: a pressurized gas source; a trigger that opens a trigger pilot valve assembly in communication with the pressurized gas source; a fill valve assembly in communication with the trigger pilot valve and the pressurized gas source; a firing chamber in communication with the fill valve assembly comprising: a bolt that releases pressurized gas to fire a paintball when a pressure in the firing chamber reaches a critical firing pressure.
 2. The paintball marker of claim 1 wherein the trigger pilot valve assembly comprises: a trigger pilot valve chamber that receives a volume of gas received from the pressurized gas source through a trigger pilot valve chamber inlet, said trigger pilot valve chamber having a trigger pilot valve chamber outlet; and a trigger pilot valve poppet that is movable between a seated position in which the trigger pilot valve poppet prevents pressurized gas from escaping from the trigger valve chamber and an unseated position in which the trigger pilot valve poppet allows pressurized gas to escape from the pilot valve chamber to the fill valve assembly.
 3. The paintball marker of claim 2, further comprising: a follower that is activated by pulling the trigger and upon activation moves the trigger pilot valve poppet to the unseated position.
 4. The paintball marker of claim 3, wherein the follower moves between a depressed position corresponding to activation and a rest position to which the follower is biased and comprises: a protrusion that contacts the trigger when the trigger is pulled; a pin, in communication with the protrusion that, when the trigger is pulled, contacts the trigger pilot valve poppet and in so doing, moves the trigger pilot valve poppet to the unseated position.
 5. The paintball marker of claim 4, wherein the pin extends within, is axial within, and is smaller than, the trigger pilot valve chamber outlet.
 6. The paintball marker of claim 5, wherein the trigger pilot valve chamber outlet comprises a trigger pilot valve chamber outlet tapered lip that contacts the trigger pilot valve chamber poppet when the trigger pilot valve chamber outlet poppet is in the seated position.
 7. The paintball marker of claim 1, wherein the fill valve assembly comprises: a fill valve chamber that receives a volume of gas received from the pressurized gas source through the fill valve chamber inlet, said fill valve chamber having a fill valve chamber outlet; and a fill valve poppet that is movable between a seated position in which the fill valve poppet prevents pressurized gas from escaping from the trigger valve chamber and an unseated position in which the trigger pilot valve poppet allows pressurized gas to escape from the pilot valve chamber to a firing chamber.
 8. The paintball marker of claim 7, further comprising a fill valve piston that moves from a rest to a release position under pressure from air from the trigger pilot valve assembly.
 9. The paintball marker of claim 8, wherein the fill valve piston comprises a piston pin that contacts the trigger pilot valve poppet and in so doing moves the trigger pilot valve poppet to the unseated position.
 10. The paintball marker of claim 9, wherein the piston pin extends within, is axial within, and is smaller than, the fill valve chamber outlet.
 11. The paintball marker of claim 10, wherein the fill valve chamber outlet comprises a fill valve chamber outlet tapered lip that contacts the fill valve chamber poppet when the fill valve chamber outlet poppet is in the seated position.
 12. The paintball marker of claim 1, wherein the bolt is biased towards a rear of the marker, and is movable towards a front of the marker when pressurized gas is received in the firing chamber from the fill valve assembly; wherein movement of the bolt towards a front of the marker expands the volume of the firing chamber; and wherein further build-up of gas pressure within the firing chamber results in firing a paintball when a pressure in the firing chamber reaches a critical firing pressure.
 13. The paintball marker of claim 12, wherein the bolt comprises a forward-biased spool slidably contained axially therein; wherein when additional pressure builds within the firing chamber when the volume of the firing chamber expands, said additional pressure drives the spool toward the rear of the marker until the pressure in the gas chamber reaches a critical firing pressure, at which point the spool is driven so far toward the rear of the marker that the spool opens a passage through the bolt through which the pressurized gas can escape, said escaping gas firing a paintball from the marker.
 14. The paintball marker of claim 13 wherein the forward bias of the spool is adjustable.
 15. The paintball marker of claim 14, wherein the forward bias of the spool is adjustable by hand.
 16. The paintball marker of claim 14, wherein the forward bias of the spool is adjustable using a hand tool.
 17. The paintball marker of claim 14, wherein the forward bias of the spool is an adjustable spring. 